Newbies: anyone else just starting TTC#1 ?

[Joey0805]

Well that's it. After 13 years of being on the pill I am now not. For various reasons I didn't come off a few months ago to allow my cycle to get back to "normal" (who knows what that is when I was on the pill twice as long as I had periods naturally) so I have no idea how long it'll take me to ovulate. Anyone else in the same boat? Having spent my whole adult life assuming I'd get pregnant just by looking at a boy without BC I am now realising it might actually take months or even years to conceive. Plus I'm not talking about this with friends; they either got pregnant vv quickly or are no where near that stage. So, would be great to hear from a few of you in the same boat...

How grumpy/stressed do SMT look? That should give you an indication of results!

Our local practice do early morning and later evening appointments, which is really convenient. Although it does help to book in early to get to see your favourite doctor!

I did my first OPK today! It's still early in the cycle, so was negative as expected. It was fun to practise!

AF supposed to come on wed... (Day before my bday ??) but still getting CM! Is this normal?? Would rely like my body to be normal again!!

TheProof - I am planning on try out my first OPK today too - can I ask what time of day did you do it? On the instructions it says best time is between 2pm and 8pm but other say it doesn't matter...bit confusing!

Ahh thanks ladies for your advice. I actually hadn't considered the condom route...! So long since we've used them haha!

Letting my cycles return to normal and then learning to understand them is going to be interesting-I've always been irregular pre-hormone contraception. Will be interesting to see if anything has changed over the years! Something else to start researching... Any recommendations of the different methods? What is OPK?!

Tessie - you need to leave at least 4 hours between your last pee and when you POAS so I do mine 1st pee of the day (also means I do them same time every day and don't take the sticks to work!).

Flybynight - I use the Ovia app to monitor my cycles and think it's really good. You learn so much (how I can be 32 and only just discovering my cervix changes throughout the month I do not know). OPK - ovulation prediction kit, basically sticks that look like pregnancy tests but measure LH which is the hormone that surges when you are about to ovulate. I am a bit obsessed with them!

Hello ladies!

Hope you don't mind me muscling in .. I'm very new to all of this so it would be great to chat to people in the same boat. I'm 29 & TTC for the first time.

I'm in a similar position to dillydollydarling .. I had my Mirena removed in July (after being in for 5 years) and my husband said the same thing to me .. 'We'll just get the coil removed, forget about it and see what happens' ! .. Yeah right.. I can't help but get excited! So my first AF arrived 10 days after the Mirena was removed. We waited a month just to check if my cycle would return to normal, had my 2nd AF after a 32 cycle in Sept & we've been TTC since then. Had my last AF at the beginning of Oct & after using the Clearblue Digital Ovulation test think I ovulated today.. So fingers crossed! I'm also using the Fertility Friend app to track my cycle which I've found really useful. I never knew there was so much to it!!

Good luck all..

Hello Goldilocks! I thought I was going to be completely laid back about TTC... clearly I had forgotten what a neurotic control freak I am!

OPKs give a more accurate result if you haven't urinated for the last 4 hours and if you are on the dehydrated side, so the urine is more concentrated. Luteinising Hormone is made in the morning, which is why many of the instructions tell you to test later on in the day. (I believe some tell you to test in the morning though, so that must be right for that brand - confusingly!) I did mine at about 2 or 3 yesterday afternoon without waiting for 4 hours just because I was home alone and bored! Today I did one when I got home from work at about 6.30 and had waited long enough (still neg, as expected!)

I use Woman Log to track my cycles. I'm sure there's plenty of choice!

I get my mirena coil removed next Thursday! Super excited about it! I'm still hoping to be pretty relaxed about it all and avoid buying OPKs and all that and just see how it goes. But I'm thinking that might not happen!

Goldilocks - ov for me today too, we're cycle buddies!

Yay.. that's good to know Joey .. fingers crossed! Mental note to myself.. must.not.symptom.watch for the next 2 weeks !!!

Good luck with that!

After lurking and reading all the replies on here, I thought I would join mumsnet.
I took my last pill yesterday after hubby and I decided we would ttc! I know it's probably going to take a while and I was just going to go with the "see what happens" approach, but after reading on here I think I might start using some of the methods you ladies are using to hopefully make things happen a bit quicker!

TheProof SMT are being very good at not giving anything away. I get the feeling we're going to get a requires improvement though...

Hello to the new people on the thread. Hoping you'll have some good news to add soon!

Today I am in a foul mood. I feel awful. I am grumpy. I feel really argumentative (very unlike me). I feel like I can't be bothered with anyone or anything - including having dinner. Damn hormones.

CD52. :(

How's it going Ainat?

Pierced - welcome!!

Hello! Another newbie here. Already getting annoyed with my body and stupid cycle (or lack thereof), this does not bode well.

Came off the pill in July, after a total of almost 10 years on some form of hormonal contraception (COCP, implant x 2, COCP again). Waited for my first proper period before getting rid of condoms - that took 9 weeks to arrive. Started "seeing how it goes" this month, not tracking in any way so far. It's now 5 weeks since my last period, tested this morning and BFN.

So now it feels like I'm stuck in limbo - at least if I had a period I would know that I actually had a cycle, even if I hadn't got pregnant this month. How long can it realistically take for things to get back to normal before I think about going to the GP?

If you are worried, book an appointment with your GP right away. The worst thing they will say is come back in X months. Most women return to normal/regular cycles within 9 months of stopping hormonal birth control.

Ainat for me grumpiness often means AF is imminent. And happy half term!

CD11 here and DTD EOD diligently so far. Using OPKs: no positives yet, so as expected. We'll just have to see what happens!

I have a question for you all, how long was it before you felt "normal" again after stopping hormonal contraceptives? I feel hideous, grump and spotty at the moment!

I actually didn't feel any different when I came off the pill (about 12 weeks ago now). Only weird thing for me has been lack of periods; I had my withdrawal bleed then a tiny light AF and so far that's it (AF or BFP due about a week from now...)

I've only been off the pill a week and I feel better already. My skin is clearing up, I'm losing weight and I feel happier. I'd forgotten that all these things only started when I started taking the pill (10 years ago). Now I'm just waiting for my body to decided what it's doing without fake hormones!

Hi everyone.

Just registered myself on here so just testing the waters a bit. I've wanted to have children for years and years but know what many of you mean when you say how you spend ages trying not to get pregnant and then finally when you do, it's very nerve wracking and not quite straightforward! My partner and I are now ttc for the first time. I came off the pill at the end of May and fortunately have had regular periods ever since. Been actively trying since the beginning of Oct and now seem to be obsessed with ovulation tests! Apparently I'm at peak fertility today and tomorrow so we'll see what happens!

I haven't noticeably felt any different since coming off the pill. But then I've never been a very "hormoney" person (such a technical term!) - I didn't used to get obvious PMT back in the days when I had natural periods, and I didn't notice any mood-related side-effects on either the pill or the implant. Others may differ, of course.

I'm finding it really hard not to overanalyse everything at the moment. Don't want this business to take over my life, but it's hard not to - even thinking about not getting stressed about it is stressful!

Hi Everyone, well I have a bit of encouraging news.. I'm pregnant! Keep up the hard work everyone.. it does happen! xx

Congratulations MrsB!! :)

I am in my fertility window according to Ovia. Lets see what is happening on cycle 2.

Totally understand u girls! After being on the depo shot for almost 12 years with my ex hubby the. Meeting the love of my life and stopping the pill I was petrified I would never get pregnant! Then within 4 months of enjoying life & holidays we got pregnant:) sadly this ended in an early miscarriage at almost 6 weeks but it can happen, you just have to keep the faith! Ive recently found out I have polycystic ovaries with 10 cysts on my right ovary & still got pregnant x x x x

Oh & id just like to add any ladies who have been irregular with their periods since coming off the pill might want to try Agnus Castus, theyre herbal tablets & help balance hormones & restore your natural cycle! I started taking them after our miscarriage knocked my regular cycle out of whack! :) good luck! X x x